Constable: Lawsuit says NBA team skirts minimum wage law for dancers
We see protests from fast-food workers seeking a hike in the minimum wage. But those crews wearing hairnets have supersized salaries compared to some women who cheer and dance for professional sports franchises, says a suburban-born attorney out to change that situation.
A lawsuit filed last week in federal court on behalf of a former Milwaukee Bucks dance team member from Illinois claims the NBA franchise was guilty of "prolific wage abuse" by paying the basketball team's dancers less than minimum wage. That suit could ripple through the NBA, including the always-popular Chicago Luvabulls.
"I think even filing affects every team in the NBA, because it puts them on notice," says sports attorney Scott Andresen of Andresen & Associates, a Chicago law firm that joined others in filing the class-action suit on behalf of Lauren Herington of Decatur, and other members of the Milwaukee Bucks dance team.
In a league where top teams are worth $2 billion or more, and every franchise is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, Andresen says that some weeks Herington earned about half the $7.25 hourly pay mandated by federal minimum-wage laws.
"They sign players to $100 million-plus contracts. And you can't afford $7.25 an hour to pay a cheerleader?" notes Andresen, who grew up in East Dundee. "Here's an idea: Park one more car in the parking lot, and that should cover it."
Herington, 21, who grew up in Decatur and danced competitively in high school and one year at Millikin College, says she moved to Milwaukee for the offer to be a dancer with the Bucks organization for the 2013-14 season.
"It started out to be pretty stressful and a lot of work to put into everything," says Herington. "It never got to be a better situation."
She says the team paid dancers $65 per home game, $30 for practices and $50 for special appearances but did not pay for additional hours of workout sessions or overtime hours. The Bucks didn't reimburse them for uniform maintenance or the cost of salon visits, haircuts and other aspects of "image" requirements either, she says.
"It was kind of a 'don't ask, don't tell' kind of thing because it was a privilege to be there," Herington says.
If a dancer weren't willing to work for substandard pay, plenty of other women would be happy to take her spot.
"That is certainly the attitude," Andresen says. "I'm not saying they aren't right. It just violates the law."
Dancers and cheerleaders often are treated as "second-class citizens," he says.
The Milwaukee Bucks issued a statement to some media outlets, noting, "We take these issues seriously and are looking into the matter."
Founder of the now-defunct Chicago Honey Bears NFL dance squad and leader of the Chicago Luvabulls for 29 years before her retirement in 2013, Cathy Core of Wheaton says she always lobbied to get her dancers more money for games, special appearances and trips. But the teams made it clear that these performance gigs were "a hobby" and not a "part-time job," Core says.
"In our case, they had to have a full-time job just to try out," she says.
Other stadium workers make minimum wage or more. Core says she hopes teams do what it takes to keep cheerleaders and dancers, who are part of the entertainment people expect.
"People do not pay top dollar for their tickets to see the ushers," she notes.
Last year, the NFL's Oakland Raiders paid $1.25 million to settle a similar lawsuit filed on behalf of cheerleaders and dancers. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers paid less than $1 million to settle a suit filed by its cheerleaders. A few other suits are pending.
The suit seeks back pay and an additional 50 percent of those wages. In most cases, that could result in a few thousand dollars per dancer and an agreement to pay future dancers minimum wage or more.
"Nobody is getting rich on this," Andresen says. "We're hopefully making a change."